The invention relates to improved systems and methods for supporting the use of video-games for rehabilitation, with a motion-sensing controller and an asynchronous interaction between a patient and a therapist. In particular, it relates to a scenario in which the patient is using said motion sensing controller to control a specifically designed video-game and the therapist is able to impose through remote settings some thresholds to limit the patient's movements.
Differently to any other previous invention, where some sensors and actuators limit the movement of the patient, in the present invention the movements of the patient are limited without interfering with the controller. Instead, the video-game reacts by filtering the output of the controllers (i.e. patient movement) with the therapist settings. Therefore the technical advantage is that the patient limits on his own the movements thanks to the audio-visual feedback of the video-game. A further advantage is that in this way the patient can play effectively a video-game, even if seriously injured, thanks to the filter imposed by therapist: this has the advantage of introducing entertainment in the rehabilitation process, making the patient more willing to undergo the rehabilitation session.
Furthermore, results and data about the exercise done through the use of video-games are periodically sent and stored for remote control by the therapist. Said bi-directional interaction is obtained through the use of a shared web service, accessible only by the therapist and the patient, where the therapist can set and adjust settings and where data on the games played, i.e. on the exercises done, can be analysed.
Said motion sensing controllers used by patients are devices that leverage on three dimensional accelerometers, gyroscope and weight measurement to sense a movement of an arm or a leg and on infrared communication between the controller itself and an infrared receiver posed close to the screen to determine the distance of the player from the screen; furthermore, said controllers have the capability to be connected to a laptop, a computer or a gaming console through standard communication protocols, such as Bluetooth, USB or RFCOMM. With such controllers, players are able to control a video-game through body movements. Said controllers can be composed by a plurality of devices each sensing the movement of a part of the body and connected among them via wireless or cable communications. Said motion sensing controllers include also boards able to sense precisely the weight of the player and the movement of the player with respect to the equilibrium axis, i.e. let the player control the game with a slight movement of the body with respect to the said axis.
In this invention, specific rehabilitation exercises are associated with simple video-games, to be controlled with movements of the body, attached to said motion sensing controllers that let the patient do a correct exercise for the related therapy.
The use of video-games for rehabilitation purposes are known in the art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,692 proposes the use of existing video-games for physical training and rehabilitation, and the input coming from game controllers are clustered in order to command the interaction with the video-game itself. The movements able to control the video-game are specifically designed for rehabilitation purposes.
In many works, the therapist can interact with the video-game synchronously, i.e. correct the patient movements while playing through the support of a video connection or by checking the output of the video-game in real-time, communicating then with the patient through a connection (internet or telephone). Through the same connection, information are stored remotely. This is the case of U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,858, where systems and methods for providing an improved exercise device with access to motivational programming over telephone communication connection lines are proposed. In US 2006/0277074 a computerized clinic system for rehabilitation is introduced. Information are remotely stored in said system and retrieved to avoid wasting of time for the patient when in the clinic or to determine a better usage of rehabilitation machines. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,060, systems and methods for interaction with special exercise device are presented: in particular, the object of the invention is to introduce such devices to simulate group exercise and synchronize with a program. In WO 2007113890, a rehabilitative model is proposed that implements traditional methods to enhance interaction between the patient and the provider of rehabilitative care or therapist, with recourse to computer systems connected via a network, through which it is made possible the intervention in support of other specialists, as well as remote control, by the competent health structures, of the results obtained at the patient's home. In WO 2007030947 an interface device for operative connection between a computer and a motion input system is described in order to let patients doing rehabilitation while playing with interactive videogames.
In addition, other inventions proposed system and methods to control user movements by changing resistance forces of a specifically designed hardware or machine, tailored to rehabilitation of a part of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,000 shows a system for motivating and controlling patient's performance over the web for rehabilitating an arm or even another part of the body through the use of common hardware, such as a low cost joystick. The main innovation is given by the fact that multiple users can be controlled simultaneously and not in real time as soon as personalized information are downloaded onto the patient's device before starting a session. In this invention the therapist interacts asynchronously with the patient, and some settings are able to control the activities of a joystick or hardware, by influencing the movement of the controller itself.
This is also the case of US 2007/0299371 where a rehabilitation device able to guide patient movements is introduced. Such device learns from former movements of the patient or from therapist's motions and then reply it for the patient. In particular trajectories and forces are programmable.
WO02069609A2 presents a similar invention, where the forces are controlled through a robotic apparatus and a wireless connection with a sensor and an actuator on the rehabilitation device. The sensor provides data about what has been done, while the actuator is activated as a consequence of parsed data.
Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,085, a system and method are introduced to generate prescription of exercise based on patient's assessment. In particular exercise protocols are generated by algorithm-based assessment completed by the user, including, but not limited to, movement and exercise useful to evaluate user capabilities. However, evaluated protocols are delivered to users through any communication means, and do not determine directly the way the patient interact with the rehabilitation device.
US 2010/0125026 discloses a game controller that can provide variable or adjustable resistance during strength training exercise in a training machine. The system may be used to enable automated physiotherapy. The system enables downloading parameters from a remote server, the parameters being set by a physiotherapist on the basis of the current status of the physiotherapy program of the patient.
Summary of the invention
The invention is a method and a system thereof for providing a personalized rehabilitation service to a patient with motion impairments by employing a gaming platform with motion sensors. The method comprises downloading rehabilitation parameters from a remote server, wherein the parameters are being set by a therapist on the basis of the current status of the rehabilitation program of the patient. According to the invention the parameters are modifying the output of said motion sensors of said gaming platform via a controller to determine a different audio-visual feedback of the gaming platform player movement so that the patient is forced to perform specific movements thanks to the audio-visual feedback of the gaming platform that are the result of a combination of patient movements and therapist parameter settings such that the usability of the game is unaltered by the impaired movement of the patient.
With the current invention, a therapist can interact asynchronously and remotely with the video-game of the patient by setting specific thresholds as for instance time of playing, amplitude of movements and weight on a part of the body. Such parameters influence the video-game output itself, and not a specifically designed hardware.
This has the remarkable advantage that no expensive tailored designed hardware is needed, but only software can control the effectiveness of the game via the settings of the therapist. Moreover, the can render the remote rehabilitation accessible to everyone thanks to the low cost and large availability of the gaming platforms. In particular, whenever a setting is decided by the therapist and saved on the shared web-service, it is gathered before the game starts and then it filters the output of the motion sensing controller and determines a different audio-visual feedback of the video-game to player movement. Said setting is for instance related to the maximum weight that a patient injured to the left leg can put on the leg itself: as soon as this weight threshold is reached, the video-game reacts as if the patient has put the maximum weight on the left side, by filtering the weight adding a quantity to the real measured value. At the same time, to reach the maximum movement on the video-game on the right side, the patient has to put the maximum weight on that part, because no settings have been imposed for that movement. This filtering of controller outputs allows patients to control naturally their movements on the injured part and keep the normal movement on the not-injured parts.
Information and data about patient movements, done while playing, are stored continuously on the shared web-space. Information are stored with respect to previous settings of the therapist, i.e. taking into account the thresholds specified for the game. The therapist can access such information at any time and decide on patient next settings according to what has been done.
For instance, a therapist can adjust said settings whenever a patient has finished a rehabilitation cycle or has successfully passed a medical exam or a periodical control, for instance increasing the threshold on the weight to be posed on the left leg for the cited example.
As said, after each gaming session, a report on the exercise done by the patient including the time spent doing rehabilitation and a synthesis of the movements done with said motion sensing controllers is sent and saved on the shared web-service. Such report is associated to the current part of the rehabilitation cycle and compared with the setting decided previously. In this way, the therapist has always a complete view of the rehabilitation done by the patient; on the contrary, the patient knows that a therapist is checking what is done so far, and he is somehow influenced to do rehabilitation more continuously.